AJAX

AN INTRODUCTION

Page 1

AGENDA
WHAT IS AJAX? HISTORY GOOGLE SUGGEST SIMPLE PROCESSING COMPONENTS
XHTML,CSS DOM XML HTTP REQUEST OBJECT JAVA SCRIPT

PROCESS CYCLE AJAX ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES EXAMPLE

Page 2

BACK THEN

Click Search

Page 3

AND YOU GET THIS

Page 4

THESE DAYS..

Page 5

THE MAGIC SPELL BEHIND THIS IS AJAX

(Asynchronous JavaScript and XML)

Page 6

SO WHAT IS AJAX ???

A programming language no A new technology not exactly So what else ?

It is a methodology on using several web technologies together, in an effort to close the gap between the usability and interactivity of a desktop application and the ever demanding web application

Page 7

 Asynchronous Javascript and XML is a client side techniques that combines a set of known technologies in order to create faster and more user friendly web pages. AJAX provides an ability to communicate with the server asynchronously.
ASYNCHRONOUS??? We can send a request to server and continue user interaction with the user with out waiting for server response. Once the response arrives, a designated area in UI will update itself and reflect the response information. Whole page need not be reloaded
Page 8

HISTORY OF AJAX
Starts with web pages Static web pages Static html page is loaded No interaction with user Dynamic web pages Html page is generated dynamically Interaction with user Becomes slower as functionality increases Speed becomes intolerable, so AJAX has been born
Page 9

 The term AJAX is coined on February 18, 2005, by Jesse James Garret in a short essay published a few days after Google released its Maps application. In the year 2006, the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) announces the release of the first draft which made AJAX an official web standard.

Page 10

GOOGLE SUGGEST
Google Suggest is using AJAX to create a very dynamic web interface: When you start typing in Google's search box, a JavaScript sends the letters off to a server and the server returns a list of suggestions.

Page 11

SMPLE PROCESSNG
AJAX is based on Javascript, and the main functionality is to access the web server inside the Javascript code.

We access to the server using special objects; we send data and retrieve data.

When user initiates an event, a javascript function is called which accesses server using the objects.

The received information is shown to the user by means of the Javascripts functions.

Page 12

COMPONENTS OF AJAX
Ajax incorporates several technologies, each flourishing in its own right, coming together in powerful new ways.
standards-based presentation using XHTML, CSS dynamic display and interaction using DOM data interchange and manipulation using XML asynchronous data retrieval using XMLHttpRequest and JavaScript binding everything together.

Page 13

XHTML, CSS
XHTML stands for EXtensible HyperText Markup Language It consists of all the elements in HTML 4.01 combined with the syntax of XML

CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets It is used to describe the presentation of a document written in HTML or XML.

Page 14

DOM
Document Object Model for HTML
DOM provides a standard set of objects for representing HTML and XML documents, and a standard interface for accessing and manipulating them. Essentially, it connects web pages to scripts or programming languages. It defines an HTML document as a collection of objects that have properties and methods and that can respond to events

Page 15

XML
EXtensible Markup Language
XML was designed to describe data and to focus on what data is (unlike HTML which was designed to display data and to focus on how data looks) It is a general-purpose markup language for creating special-purpose markup languages that carry data.

Page 16

XMLHttpRequest
The kernel of Ajax

XmlHttp Request Object

The XMLHttpRequest object allows client-side JavaScript to make HTTP requests (both GET and POST) to the server without reloading pages in the browser. This JavaScript object was originally introduced in Internet Explorer 5 by Microsoft and it is the enabling technology that allows asynchronous requests

Page 17

XMLHttpRequest
By performing screen updates on the client, you have a great amount of flexibility when it comes to creating your Web site : Eliminate page refreshes every time there is user input Edit data directly in place, without requiring the user to navigate to a new page to edit the data Increase site performance by reducing the amount of data downloaded from the server The possibilities are endless!
Page 18

JavaScript
JavaScript is one of the world's most popular programming languages Its popularity is due entirely to its role as the scripting language of the WWW along with VBScript

JavaScript has a syntax similar to Java but: It is not a real programming language (it is script) It was developed at Netscape and not Sun. It was originally called LiveScript

Page 19

JavaScript
JavaScript binds all the mentioned technologies together to create the Ajax pattern.
When a user clicks a button, you can use JavaScript and XHTML to immediately update the UI
Spawn an asynchronous request to the server using the XMLHttpRequest object via JavaScript to perform an update or query a database.

When the request returns as XML, you can then use JavaScript, CSS, DOM to update your UI accordingly without refreshing the entire page.
Most importantly, users don't even know your code is communicating with the server: the Web site feels like it's instantly responding ("desktop-like" usability)

Page 20

THE PROCESS CYCLE

Page 21

BENEFITS OF USING AJAX

Helps to build fast, dynamic websites. Ajax allows to perform processing on client computer (in JavaScript) with data taken from the server thereby reducing server load by moving a part of server functionality to client side. Ajax can selectively modify a part of a page displayed by the browser, and update it without the need to reload the whole document with all images, menus etc. This bridges the gap between desktop and web applications. Saves bandwidth by only transmitting new information Creates possibility of entirely new types of user interfaces not possible in traditional model.
Page 22

AJAX DISADVANTAGES
Poor compatibility with very old or obscure browsers, and many mobile devices.
Limited Capabilities like multimedia, interaction with web-cams and printers, local data storage and real time graphics. Not everyone have JavaScript enabled. If JavaScript is not activated, Ajax can't works. The user must be asked to set JavaScript from within options of the browser, with the "noscript" tag.

Too much code makes the browser slow.

Page 23

 The back button problem. People think that when they press back button, they will return to the last change they made, but in AJAX this doesn not hold. Possible network latency problems. People should be given feedback about the processing. Does not run on all browsers.

Page 24

XMLHTTPREQUEST OBJECT
Important Methods

Open(method,url,boolean)
to send a request to server method - GET or POST url - address of the target file boolean - to denote whether the request is synchronous or asynchronous. If true, asynchronous.

Send(content)
to send data to server for processing content - may be string or DOM type of document.

Page 25

IMPORTANT PROPERTIES
readystate - used to identify the state of the request. Possible values 0-4. onreadystatechange - event handler for an event that fires at every state change. status -Numeric code return by server.Eg.404,200 responseText - the string data returned by the server process. responseXML - the DOM type of document returned by the server process.

Page 26

CREATE XMLHTTPREQUEST OBJECT

var request; if (window.ActiveXObject) { /*supperted in IE*/ request = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); } else if (window.XMLHttpRequest) { /* supported in Safari and Mozilla*/ request = new XMLHttpRequest(); } else { request = null; }
Page 27

CREATE XMLHTTPREQUEST OBJECT

request.open("GET", "message.html", true); request.onreadystatechange = function() { if (request.readyState == 4) { if(request.status == 200) { /*in the case of string data*/ var str = request.responseText; document.getElementById(tag id).innerHTML = str ; /*in the case of XML document*/ var response = request.responseXML; var doc = response.documentElement; var data1 = doc.getElementByTagName(tagname)[0].firstchild.nodeValue; } } } request.send(null); Page 28

JAVASCRIPT LIBRARY

A JavaScript library is a library of pre-written JavaScript which allows for easier development of JavaScript-based applications, especially for AJAX. Some popular javascript libraries are jQuery, MooTools, Prototype, Dojo. With the help of the javascript library functions dynamic web page development will be easier.

Page 29

THANK YOU

Page 30